If you entered this section, you are trying to lose or manage your weight. You probably already know that the key to weight management is the combination of eating right and exercising right. Many people fall short when planning an exercise program because they just don't know what to do and how hard to exercise. These sections were created to help you develop an effective exercise program.
To understand how an HRM can help you, we established the
Polar 3 Point Message:
It's a tool that will help pace you. If you exercise too hard, you will most
likely quit before you get the real benefit. We have all seen the person that
gets on the treadmill, cranks it up to 8% grade and 8 mph, runs full out for 2
minutes, and gets off. ALL THEY DID WAS WASTE TWO MINUTES OF THEIR TIME!
Your goal should be 30 minutes.
After 20 minutes, you will start burning more calories. You're body needs time to
warm up. It's like lifting weights. The first 10 reps you do are like a
warm-up, and the last 2 are the ones that really give you the benefit. How do
you get to 30 minutes? By pacing yourself.
On the other hand, there are the people that exercise very leisurely and wonder why they can't lose any weight. If you workout too slow, you don't get the exercise benefit.
If you're very new to the concept of a heart rate, you might be wondering WHAT'S AN HRM. It consists of a watch worn on your wrist, and a transmitter that you comfortably wear against your skin and around your chest. The transmitter picks up the signals of your heart, and sends them wirelessly to the watch you wear on your wrist. It's that simple. No wires, no taking your pulse and doing a multiplication equation. Just look at your wrist and it's there. AND THE KEY, IT'S DISPLAYED CONTINUOUSLY. The continuous display is what makes it effective. It's there guiding you during your whole workout.
Here's how it works.
There are specific Target Zones (TZ) that help to guide you to the right
intensity. A TZ is a high and low heart rate range that is based on a % of your
maximum heart rate. Using a formula based on your age, you can figure out your
maximum heart rate. You then take %'s of that to get your Target Zones.
Key Target Zones for
Weight Loss
|
60-70% of max hr |
weight loss and building endurance |
|
70-80% " " " |
weight management and improving cardiovascular fitness |
|
80%+ |
interval workouts |
Example:
Elaine is 45 years old and she wants to lose weight. She exercises three days a
week, sometimes for 10 minutes, sometimes for 20 minutes and she's not sure how
hard to exert herself.
*Her estimated max heart rate is 220-(age) 45=175
The recommended target zone
is 60-70 %
60% of 175=105
70% of 175=123
Elaine
should exercise three days a week for at least 30 minutes and keep her heart
rate between 105 and 123 for effective weight loss. IT'S THAT SIMPLE!
Our M-Series products have some exclusive features that listen to your body and then help guide you to an effective workout. The OwnZone™ feature will automatically establish your effective Target Zone for that day’s exercise during a brief warm-up period. It’s a great alternative to the formula calcualations explained above.
The OwnCal™ feature will track your calories burned more accurately because it calcualates consumption right from your body by using your heart rate. The almost all of the other calorie funcitons you see on watches or equipment are nust based on formulas. To see this, just step off your treadmill while it is still going and watch the calories continue to accumulate while you stand still.
Once you have
selected the Polar model that is right for you, it's time to start your
program. Familiarize yourself with the operation of the HRM. Like anything
technical, it may seem a little complicated at first, but you'll get more
comfortable with each use. Read the manual, or if you have any questions, call
our Customer Service line at 800-227-1314.
Let's get started!
Step 1
Determine Your Personal Target Zones
Target Zones
|
60-70% of max hr |
weight loss, building endurance |
|
70-80% " " " |
weight management, improve cardio fitness |
Now use one of the following formulas to set up your TZs
Option 1 Age-based formula
220 minus your age (A) = estimated max hr (HRMx)
To find your target zones
MHR X .60=( ) MHR X .70=( ) TZ1
MHR X .70=( ) MHR X .80=( ) TZ2
You now have your two personal target zones
Option 2
Karvonen Formula
This formula uses your age and fitness level to determine your target zones.
It's a more personalized number.
First, you must take your heart rate for three mornings in a row before getting
up from bed. Once you have those numbers, take the average of the sum:
Morning 1# + Morning 2# +
Morning 3# = ( X)
(X) divided by 3 = Morning Resting HR (MRHR)
This is the single best
indicator of your state of fitness. Once you have this number established as a
baseline, you can use it to understand more about yourself than you can
imagine. Take it again every once in a while, at least once every two weeks.
As your fitness improves,
you will most likely see that number going down. And that's important. It takes
time to start losing the weight. Many people quit because they get on the scale
and they don't see any difference. This number will tell you that your fitness
level is improving. That means the weight should be coming off soon after. By
seeing that you're actually improving, you're more likely to stick with it.
Now use your resting heart
rate number as follows:
220 minus your age (A)=
estimated max hr (HRMx)
HRMx minus MRHR= (C)
Now find your personal
target zones
TZ1
(C) X .60 = (D) D + MRHR = (
) 60% limit number
(C) X .70 = (E) E + MRHR = ( ) 70%
limit number
TZ2
(C) X .70 = (D) D + MRHR = (
) 70% limit number
(C) X .80 = (E) E + MRHR = ( ) 80% limit number
Example:
Janet is 40 years old and her morning resting hr is 58.
220 minus 40 = 180
180 minus 58 = 122
122 X .60 = 73.2 73 + 58 =
131
122 X .70 = 85.4 85 + 58 = 143
Her 60-70% Target Zone would be 131-143
Now use that formula to
determine both of your target zones.
Option 3 OwnZone™ Feature
If you own one of the
M-Series models, just follow the instructions on how to go through a warm-up
and it will find it for you automatically.
Once you have it, start your exercise.
If you ar looking for a lower intensity workout, stay in the lower half
of the zone. If you seek higher
intensity, keep it in the upper half.
It’s that easy.
Option 4
Stress test
Have your physician perform a stress test and
determine your max hr and
target zones for you. This is especially important if you are just starting out
an exercise program, are obese, or are coming back from a long layoff.
Step 2
Choose the Zone that corresponds to your goal
If you're exercising to lose weight, try to do at least three workouts a week for 30 minutes in your 60-70% target zone. . Time and intensity are the keys. If you can go longer, you will only benefit more.
Exercise Tip: You can burn almost twice as much calories by exercising twice a week for 1 hour, as you would exercising 5 times for 30 minutes. (Pocket Personal Trainer by Eric Harr)
As you get more fit aerobically, you should try different workouts each day. Your body will adapt to your exercise if you do the same thing over and over. Now that you have an HRM and know your Target Zones, you can use any activity to get a workout. Just let your HRM guide you.
Sample workout week
once you move beyond a beginner:
Monday Exercise for 45 minutes to 1 hour at 60-70 %. Take the first 10 minutes to warm up below 60%.
Wednesday Walk to hill near your house below 60% as a warm-up. Once there, do hill repeats (walk up and recover while walking down, then repeat). While walking up, don't let your heart rate get above 80%. When walking down, don't start the next hill climb until your heart rate gets back down to 60%. Start with three of these and add on from there. Walk home at 60% to cool down
Friday Warm up for 10 minutes at 60%. Then exercise for 15 minutes at a steady pace staying in the 70-80% range. Then cool down for 5 minutes at 60% to cool down.
Weekend Try another activity using your HRM.
There are many different heart rate-based exercise programs available on the Internet or in books. The Polar Precision Weight Management booklet is available in the Polar Store. Try the sample workouts above, or find one that works for you.
The key here is calorie burn. You need to exercise long enough to maximize calorie burn. But if you are like most people, you also have time constraints. An hour workout is a great benchmark to work towards, because you can get great caloric burn during 60 minutes. Variety is the key. A good rule of thumb. If you have the time, do a longer workout at a lower intensity (60-70%). If you have 30 minutes, warm-up and try to maintain a higher intesity
(70-80%). You want to maximize the time that you have. If you have no time constraint, then build a program that incorporates both, like the one listed above. Make sure you are ready to take on those types of workouts. Check with your doctor before you move to the next level of exercise.
GOOD LUCK!
If you are just
starting to exercise, or are trying to take your exercise to the next level,
you should check with your doctor to make sure that it is safe for you to do
so.
Questions? mailto:Corey.Cornacchio@polar.fi